Four Hundred Wildflowers

Chapter 1: Unconditional Love

On the morning of our tenth anniversary, I woke to an empty space beside me and the brief, foolish hope that everything had somehow fixed itself overnight.

For three whole seconds, before I was fully awake, I forgot about the layoffs. I forgot the stack of unpaid bills beneath the fruit bowl, the job applications that vanished into silence, and the careful arithmetic we performed before buying groceries. I reached across the mattress, expecting to find Daniel’s shoulder.

The sheet was cool.

Then I remembered.

Ten years.

Our anniversary had arrived at the worst possible time.

Daniel had lost his job six weeks earlier when the small printing company where he worked closed without warning. I had been unemployed for nearly a month after the medical office where I handled appointments reduced its staff. We had gone from two incomes to none so quickly that it felt less like a change and more like stepping through a floor we had believed was solid.

The night before, we had sat at the kitchen table with two mugs of tea and our bank balance glowing on Daniel’s laptop.

“No gifts,” I said.

He looked at me over the screen. “Not even something small?”